Are economic freedom and economic efficiency EVER mutually exclusive?

Eh..... wrote:

[quote]liberty wrote:

Of course it a simple minded and unhelpful thing to say that economic efficiency as defined by a micro-econ textbook is the end all be all of public policy.

Of course. But, is it better than having a government that is mandated to ensure economic freedom? The Tea Party says the constitution limits what the government can do within the economy. I'm sure there can be some debate on whether it does or it doesn't, but what I ask is should it. If the government is able to quantifiably improve the quality of peoples lives by increasing incomes, should it be granted all tools necessary for it to act towards that end or are the philosophical implications of that too great a cost?